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By Vinde Wells
vwells@oglecounty
news.com
An Oregon man has been charged after a June 24 boating accident that took the life of a Rockford woman.
Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) spokesman Chris Young said Monday that Marc Mongan, 46, has been charged with operating a watercraft while under the influence of alcohol and reckless operation of a watercraft.
Mongan, who is the owner of Oregon Healthcare Pharmacy Services Inc., is scheduled to appear in Ogle County Court on July 15 for arraignment.
Megan M. Wells, 31, was pronounced dead at Swedish American Hospital, Rockford, after the johnboat Mongan was operating struck a pontoon boat in which she was a passenger on the Rock River three miles north of Oregon.
Young said Wells, the mother of three, was thrown overboard in the collision, which occurred at 8:40 p.m.
The Oregon ambulance transported her to the hospital.
An autopsy performed by the Winnebago County Coroner’s office Monday showed Wells died from blunt force trauma to her chest.
Ogle County Sheriff Police said Nicholas Lamb, 29, Oregon, a passenger in the johnboat, was transported by Stillman Valley ambulance to Rockford Memorial Hospital for treatment of serious injuries.
Other occupants of the pontoon boat were David Daily, 52, Leaf River; Phillip Lukes, 52, Chicago; and Sherry Bushre, 59, Chicago. They refused treatment at the scene.
Mongan also refused treatment.
River Rescue units from the Oregon and Byron Fire Departments also responded to the scene. The Air-One Emergency Response Coalition helicopter was also dispatched to the area.
The accident investigation, which remains ongoing, was turned over to the IDNR Conservation Police.